


Hidden

by Rulerofyouall



Series: Birds of a Feather [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Angel Wings, Angst, Bad Parent Willis Todd, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Insecurity, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd is Robin, Jason Todd-centric, Jason-centric, Protective Bruce Wayne, Shyness, Wingfic, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rulerofyouall/pseuds/Rulerofyouall
Summary: In a universe where everyone has wings, Jason made it his mission to keep his hidden regardless of the negative effects it may have on his body. Bruce is concerned.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Series: Birds of a Feather [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2171418
Comments: 7
Kudos: 239





	Hidden

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing!

Jason didn't like to take his wings out. He knew he should; keeping them bound with ace bandages and duct tape was unhealthy. He couldn't though. He never took his wings out.

It wasn't because he didn't like them, but his mother had taught him to never take them out. They were different than most other people's wings, and that made it easy to identify him. That was problematic for a Crime Alley street rat. It would be very easy for the police to find him (if they ever bothered), and it would be even easier for a more shady person to find him. If his wings were more similar to everyone else's, maybe he would take them out more often, but back then, he knew that he would be tracked down immediately if he stole from the wrong person.

Now, he was Robin. Jason bad an entire new secret identity to keep under wraps, so there was no way he could take his unusual wings out. People would soon put two and two together and find out that he was Robin, and then, it would only be a matter of time before they found out who Batman was as well. 

Unless Bruce had seen him naked (EWWWW, but not unheard of due to his pattern of getting injured on patrol), he would never have seen his wings. He shouldn't know how large they were (meaning: tiny) or what color they were. They were a pure white, a color that reflected light perfectly, which was yet another reason to keep them hidden. He couldn't have the feathery fucks giving away his location in the Gotham night.

He liked Bruce's wings though. They were large, the largest Jason had ever seen, and a deep, deep black, and his feathers felt like the softest pillows ever. Jason's wings had never been as soft. Living in poverty and then on the streets didn't exactly make warm showers and healthy oils available for him, so they soon became ratty and dirty. They were better now, but he kept them bound to his body too much to let his feathers fluff out.

He liked cuddling with Bruce after patrol. He would always wrap the large wings around him and just _hold_ him, and that was honestly all Jason ever wanted out of any of his parents. He felt hidden, out of the public eye, and finally _safe._ Not necessarily safe enough to ever unwrap his own wings, but he was confident that he would still be alive tomorrow, overmorrow, and even the day after that. Bruce would protect him, and he wouldn't let anything bad happen to him.

Jason wanted to unwrap his wings so bad. He bound them to his chest, using ace bandages to keep them down, but they would often cause him a lot of pain, especially during any type of exercise. It made being Robin so difficult.

Was he a fake? After all, what sort of robin had no wings?

His ribs hurt him all the time. His lungs would expand when he inhaled, but the ace bandages would contract. This meant that there was always incredible pressure on his ribcage. 

But for now, he was sitting there, perched on Bruce's lap as the dark wings held him close. His head was rested on his father's shoulder, and his eyes were closed as he just _existed_ there with Bruce in the moment.

"You need to take those bandages off, Jaylad."

Jason cracked his eyes open to see the older man looking down on him. "No, B." He moaned, throwing his head back deep into Bruce's chest. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"They would figure out I'm Robin."

Bruce frowned. "How would they know?"

"I've never seen anyone with wings as....weird as mine." Jason shrugged. "If they know about me, then, they'll know about you, and they might even connect it all to Dick, and-"

"Jason, breathe." He ran a calloused hand through his son's hair. "What about them do you think is different?"

He gripped Bruce's shirt and stared up at him. "They're too bright."

"Bright?" He looked confused. "Let me see them, Jay."

His heart leapt up into his throat, and he sat up straight in his lap. "No! I don't want to."

"Why?" His face looked even more perplexed the longer the conversation went on.

"You'll _know._ "

"Jaylad, what the hell are you talking about?"

Jason's eyes burned with the tears that wanted to spill over. His breath caught in his throat a bit, but he refused to look at Bruce, who seemed desperate to catch his gaze. He didn't know, and that was all that mattered.

"Are you hiding something from me?"

He flinched, not liking the wording of his sentence. His biological father, Willis Todd, used to say things like that and accuse him of being sketchy before proceeding to hit him. Bruce wasn't going to hit him, right? He didn't think he would; he was Batman for fuck's sake.

"Jay, please tell me what's going on."

"I-I used to do bad things, B, but I had to! I had to! You believe me, right?" Jason could barely see his father through the tears clouding his vision. "I had no where to live; I had nothing to eat-"

Bruce squeezed his son to his chest. "It's okay, Jay. I know."

"But you put criminals in jail. What I did was...is...illegal." He wiped his eyes aggressively and buried his face in Bruce's chest.

"There is a difference between a young boy trying to feed himself and an armed bank robbery." He said blatantly. "I do not blame you for trying to survive."

Jason was silent for a moment before he looked up again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Jaylad."

"Not lying?"

"Not lying."

He sighed, relaxing into his father's strong arms once more. "Okay."

"What?"

"I'll take the bandages off." Jason sat up and slowly discarded his shirt. 

The bandages covered his entire torso, criss-crossing his abdomen and his chest in an attempt to hide himself from the world. He would put painstaking amounts of efforts in wrapping his wings every day. In fact, sometimes he didn't bother taking them off when he slept or showered, so he wouldn't have to take the hours taking it on and off again.

"Let me help you with this." Bruce found an end to the bandage and started unwrapping is quickly yet cautiously as he could. He knew that this would be affecting his son's performance in every aspect of his life: school, Robin, free time, everything.

He always knew that Jason was too thin, but it was all the more obvious when the bandages were removed. They were also covered in a yellowish dark color from bruises beneath the surface of his skin. Bruce believed that they were definitely on his ribs, and the ribs themselves were clearly visible from where he was sitting.

And his wings, oh God, his wings. They had been released, but Jason still kept them close to his body. They needed to be cleaned, but the bright white feathers were still there, and he knew why Jason was hesitant to show them to him. Years ago, probably before Jason started binding them to his body, there had been a small time pick pocket with the exact same color wings, and seeing that it wasn't exactly a common shade, he had a feeling who that tiny pick pocket actually was. The feathers stuck close to his limbs, not having had the opportunity to fluff out in a long, long time.

"Come on, I need to clean these." Bruce lifted the boy in his arms and walked towards the bathroom. Jason had yet to gain the necessary weight for anyone to consider him a healthy child, but there was still time for that.

Alfred seemed to have realized what he had been planning on doing. Right next to the bathtub, he found all the oils and soap he would need to care for his son's wings, and there was also a bottle of bubble bath just for funsies. Jason loved bubbles; even when he had access to running water in his youth, bubbles were never available to him. They were simply too expensive and unnecessary for the Todds.

The feathers seemed to almost bleed into the water, slowly becoming lighter and lighter and brighter and brighter. Bruce knew that it most likely wasn't very comfortable just because of the exposure of his wings, but he seemed suitably distracted by the bubbles for now.

Jason's wings were small like the rest of him, and Bruce wasn't sure if he would ever be able fly properly. It was relatively common in people who suffered from intense malnutrition in their childhood for their wings go be too weak to support them. Bruce hoped that Jason wouldn't be like that since there was still time for him to grow, but it was still at the forefront of his mind.

"They haven't looked like this in a long time." Jason found himself staring at the newly cleaned feathers. "My mom used to help me keep them clean."

"Do you want me to show you how to groom them?"

He looked up hopefully. "Please?"

"Of course, Jaylad." He took out his preening stick and a bottle of expensive oil. (He wasn't sure if Jason's uropygial gland was functioning.)

"Thanks, dad."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


End file.
